LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William Charles BUTLER
Service No: 422417
Born: Wagga Wagga NSW, 23 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Skellingthorpe
Died: Air Operations (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV344), Germany, 2 January 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Florence Gertrude Butler, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Coogee NSW
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0001hours on the morning of 2 January 1944 Lancaster DV344 took off from Skellingthorpe detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A later report by a Missing Research and Enquiry team stated “the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed near Kleistow, which is 22 miles south west of Berlin.” All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of DV344 were:
Sergeant Robert Ross Barbour (1349602) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant William Charles Butler (422417) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Ronald Percy Cunningham (110558) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Frederick Gleadle (1526801) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Edward Lunniss (1874918) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer John Storey (136367) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Mervyn Stephen Williams (643674) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/376